support and may her memory be a blessing. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room". stay with cnn for special coverage of president biden's address to the nation in one hour, 8:00 p.m. eastern. erin burnett out front starts now. >> out front next, president joe biden making his first primetime speech to the nation. directing states to open up vaccine eligibility to all adults by may first. biden's chief of staff ron klain is out front. unaccompanied minors at the southern border. the white house says it's not a crisis, but what will the president do about it? prince william breaks his silence on his brother's interview. just how strained is the relationship between the two princes? let's go out front. good evening, i'm erin burnett. out front tonight, president biden about to address the nation. his first primetime address

since taking office 51 days ago. and cnn just learning the president will direct all states to open vaccine eligibility to all adults by may first and that he would like to see some signs of normalcy like small gatherings by july 4th. this comes just hours after biden signed a landmark piece of legislation, a $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. >> i believe this is and most people i think do as well, this historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving people in this nation, working people, middle class folks, people who built the country a fighting chance. >> biden is seizing the moment. according to cnn's new poll, 77% of americans now believe the worst is behind us. that is up nearly 30% over just the past two months. there is an undeniable sense of hope across this country after a year that the cdc says was

almost certainly the deadliest year on record for the u.s.. the deadliest year on record. and tonight does mark one year to the day that the world health organization followed the lead of cnn and called the covid outbreak what it is, a pandemic. that same day, trump addressed the nation with this message. >> i am confident that i count and continuing to take these tough measures, we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens and we will ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus. >> tonight one year later, despite some signs of light, we are still trying to defeat this virus because, yes, 530,000 americans have died, an incredible tragedy and loss. but even now, 1400 -- 1,400 people in this country are still dying every single day from coronavirus. and there is a lot of pain. in moments, biden will address that pain and the hope for the

future. kaitlan collins is out front live outside the white house. caitlan, you've been learning details about what president biden will say tonight in his significant address, his first in 51 days. it is going to be detailed, we understand. he's put a lot of time into this. >> reporter: yeah, they say he's been editing it line by line, one, because he wants to make sure americans understand how they are going to benefit from the coronavirus relief package that he signed earlier today, that $1.9 trillion package, but also he is going to make some news, erin. what that is going to be is president biden is directing all states to make sure that all americans can actually get the vaccine by no later than may 1st. that means conditions you've seen on age limits, whether or not you have a health condition, they want those to fall away no later than may 1st. the white house says they believe president biden has the authority to direct states and tribes and territories to do so through the health and human services department. so look for that. but there is also going to be another key date that you are going to hear from president

biden tonight and that's july 4th because they believe by having this goal of may 1 where all adult americans can get the vaccine, everyone is eligible, that then by july 4th, you could start to see small gatherings of people for july 4th celebrations, something that, of course, did not happen last year because that was when we were right in the heat of all of these lockdowns. they're hoping we can get back to some kind of look like by normal by july 4th. the one key thing we should note, senior administration officials said as they were prepping us for what president biden is going to say tonight, a lot of this is going to depend on americans going and getting the vaccine. you can read into that. you've seen concerns about vaccine hesitancy. they also said just because everyone who wants one is eligible to get one by may first doesn't mean everyone will have gotten one by then. there are still going to be issues they're working through with supplies, with hesitancy, with getting people to get the vaccine in their arms. so look for that as well. but the other question that naturally comes up, how are they going to do this.

a few things they just told us a few moments ago, they are going to set up a federally supported website by the beginning of ma. you heard that idea floated earlier this year. you are going to have that to look for where you can get the vaccine. for people who do not have access to the internet, they'll have a call center so you can call to find out the closest place to get a vaccine, erin. >> thank you, kaitlan. i want to go to ron klain. i appreciate your time. we note that there would be news in the speech tonight and we did get some big news, right, that the president is directing all states to open vaccinations to all adults, no preconditions, no age restrictions by may 1st. what else new can you tell us about what to expect tonight? >> well, i think kaitlan wynton over the big news, the deadline. he's going to talk about how

that's going to be possible. we have rapidly accelerated the pace of vaccinations under the biden administration. it's possible because of the funding that the president signed into law today with the american rescue plan which will allow us to further accelerate vaccinations. he is also going to talk about some of our other goals, which is getting schools reopened by the end of this 100 days, the majority of k through 8 schools opened in 100 days. and getting guidance from centers for disease control what they can do safely after they have been vaccinated. we think it is important to encourage people to get vaccinated and helps people see a pathway back to greater normalcy in our lives. >> sir, there is a poll out showing three quarters of americans say the worst of the outbreak is behind us. i do wonder who the other 20, 22% are. but there are still serious risks out there to be sure. and we did see today the governor of oklahoma is following the recent lied of

texas, mississippi, dropping covid restrictions, masks, everything else. is there real risk that the progress gets wiped out here or at this point? no? >> well, i think there is risk that the progress gets wiped out here. the progress gets delayed or setback. the president emphasized he is doing his part, the federal government is finally showing up for work and accelerating the pace of vaccines and delivering the tools we need. he's going to deploy 4,000 additional troops to give vaccinations. he's going to send vaccines to 950 community health centers. but then the american people have to do their part. that means using masks until it's safe not to do so. that means social distancing. that means when it's your turn to get vaccinated, getting vaccinated. so this is a whole of the country effort. the president is deploying our entire government to do its part. the american people are going to have to do their part, too.

>> so, today the president signed the covid relief bill into law. i know he's going to be talking about that tonight. and i know that he's going to be trying to roll out different parts of it. obviously when you look at it, it is five to six times bigger than it would be if its simple goal was to replace lost income from covid. it would be much smaller. but it's bigger. when the first stimulus checks went out in april of 2020, that was the biggest bill, right? this is smaller than that one. unemployment was 14.8%. now we have unemployment down to 6.2%. savings rate has surged. do you have any fear that this bill is too big for the moment when you do have a lot of people who are ready to surge out there? >> no, i think this bill is fine in what we need to meet the moment. we have fought this virus from behind for more than a year. we've been losing that battle. we started to turn that around the past 50 days. there is a lot more work to do. and while the official

unemployment rate is down, we know there are millions of americans out of work. americans who can't find work. americans who had to drop out of the work force because of the economy. we need to get this economy growing again. we need to get people the help they need. part of what this bill does is in addition to those $1,400 checks everyone is talking about, it also provides food assistance for people who have been hardest hit by this. assistance to our veterans health care system to get them the help they need. help for small business so they can get reopened and create jobs. this is a comprehensive strategy to get this country going again. i think that's what this country really needs right now. >> all right. so, of course, the reality of it is as we all know, right, no republicans voted for it. and all democrats did, but one in the house. this comes in the context, though, of president biden's taking his candidacy and his presidency on his unique ability to unite and what he calls the crucial nature of bipartisan ship. here he is. >> we need to revive a spirit of

bipartisan in this country. my hope is that we'll get republicans as well as democrats to support us. >> i've been talking to a lot of my republican friends in the house and the senate, continue to do that. >> of course, there was none of that on covid relief, right. as i mentioned, neither the house nor senate voted for it. ron, as you specifically know, you were blamed by the moderate republican susan collins because she said during the meeting at the white house when the president sat down with ten republican senators to talk about this at the beginning -- let me quote her. she said biden was very attentive, gracious into the details. it was a great discussion. ron -- that's you -- was shaking his head in the back of the room the whole time, which is not exactly an encouraging sign. i thought that was unfortunate. what do you say to senator collins, ron? >> well, what i'll say with all due respect to senator collins is that the plan the republicans put forward in that meeting, which the president did indeed listen to graciously because he is a gracious listener, was

inadequate for the moment. it proposed to cut these $1,400 checks. it proposed no aid to put teachers back on the job. it proposed nothing for veterans health care. it proposed nothing to help the children who are in poverty as a result of this. so the plan they proposed was less than a third the size of the plan that congress enacted. and, again, the president certainly did listen respectfully. we wanted to find a way to try to get to a middle ground with the republican senators, republicans in the house. but in the end there was a choice between doing what the country needed to be done, to beat this virus and to grow this economy, or doing something much smaller than that. and the president made the choice to do what this country needs. now, i hope we can find as we move forward to other issues, places we can work together with republicans and do things on a bipartisan basis. they have issues on infrastructure that are encouraging. cancer that is encouraging.

in this case, the crisis, the president did what he had to do to beat this virus and to get this economy moving. >> ron, i also want to ask you about what's happening at the southern border right now. the latest number we had today, 3,700 unaccompanied migrant children in u.s. border patrol custody which is 1,000 more kids than trump had at the peak of the 2019 border crisis. we have also learned that many children are being kept in jail-like facilities. how is the situation any different than under trump, except for that you have more kids? >> well, first of all, we aren't separating children from their families. these are children who are arriving alone. the other thing is we're trying to meet the situation with urgency and humanity. we're working hard with the department of health and human services to help the children when they arrive, make sure they are treated in a humane way and connected with family members in the united states or with other sponsors. you know, we were left with

inadequate resources down there, with a system that had been shrunk due to covid, and now we're trying to stand up the resources we need to make sure these children are treated in a humane and appropriate way. >> let me ask you because this is really hard. i know it's easy for people to throw stones here. when you're looking at a problem like this and a lot of these kids -- one of the issues the trump administration said they had is they could not find these kids' families, they didn't know where to send them. if they've come here illegally, are you going to let them stay, are you going to be able to find where they came from? how do you tackle this issue in many cases? >> so, erin, it is a hard problem. no question about it. many children have family members here in the u.s. and we're going to make an effort to connect them with their family members. others don't, and we're going to try to connect them with sponsors and social service organizations that will take care of them. but particularly when small children come here sent by their parents on a perilous dangerous journey to this country,

claiming a fear of persecution, we need to deal with this in a humane -- it is a hard problem but a problem we're very focused on in terms of making sure these children are treated appropriately and ultimately wind up in a safe home here in the u.s. >> right. and so just to understand, the goal, then, what you're saying in a humane way, i understand your goal is to have them stay here. >> well, these children coming here obviously have claims, asylum claims. those claims have a right under u.s. law, to have those claims be heard. so our goal is to follow the law. this is a nation of immigrants. it's a nation of laws. we're going to follow the law, treat these children appropriately under federal law, and both legally and humanely, that's our objective. >> well, i appreciate your time, ron. thank you very much. for the conversation. >> thanks for having me, erin. of course. >> and next, biden preparing to address the nation and tout his covid relief bill, a bill as i was discussing with ron, had no

republican support. so will that hurt biden's ability to move forward with other parts of his agenda, the things like infrastructure that ron was mentioning? plus four of america's former presidents joining forces to urge everyone to get vaccinated. but there's one person missing, trump. why? and prince william pushing back on racism claims as we learn just how distant he and his brother harry appear to be. the harry's razor is not the same our razors have 5 german-engineered blades designed to stay sharp so you can enjoy lasting comfort and we never upcharge you for high quality harry's. available in store and at harrys.com why walgreens? with copays as low as $0.... walgreens makes affording your medicare prescriptions... ...no sweat.

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president biden a moments away from his primetime address to mark one year of the coronavirus pandemic. he is going to set a date, may 1st for everyone to be vaccinated and july 4 for the country being closer to normal. he's expected to tell americans they could have a small gathering or barbecue if there is continued vigilance with masks and social distancing. his chief of tstaff and ally ro klain said they will have vaccines going in arms. dana bash and political speech writer, john is going to write out specific dates, july 4th. they have given dates, but by late summer, by spring. the end of june, it was very vague and all of that.

this is very specific, which seems to signal a real sense of confidence, doesn't it? >> that's right. and that's what an oval office address is designed to do. this is the most iconic moment in early presidency other than inaugural. the president behind the resolute desk in command and what i think you're going to see isn't biden trying to aim for soaring rhetoric, but to layout a clear plan of command. saying, look, this is how it's going to affect you and that may 1st date when everyone is eligible is a big deal. we're going to declare a degree of independence by independence day is a real deal. he'll talk about schools and how this bill helps achieve that. this looks like a very, how does this action impact your lives and help america open up? a workday speech from the president of the united states. >> independence from the virus by independence day. only a speech writer. if they didn't think of that line, they're playing with it now. dana, to that point, we do know biden went through line by line

reviewing the draft of tonight's speech over the past week, literally line by himself all this week. what does that say to you, knowing him over the years knowing the level of detail going into it and what his goal is? >> well, like john said, this is such a historic and iconic moment for this president. historic in terms of how people are going to look at his administration, particularly given the crises that he inherited. and so this is an incredibly important time for him to communicate, especially given the fact that, as we now know, they are going to and he is going to communicate very specific ideas and goals. it's so interesting to me because at the beginning, you know, the first few weeks, there was a lot of criticism of the biden administration because they were kind of low-balling

the goals on vaccines in arms. >> right. >> saying it was 100 million by the first 100 days. are you just playing politics with this? this speech tonight is completely opposite end of the spectrum in terms of the expectation game that people play in politics because he is going to, you know, be bold with the time. if you think about where we started a year ago, if we thought this time last year that being bold with the time line would be may 1st, 2021, no one would have believed it. given how difficult it's been and how mismanaged it was by the previous administration, it's pretty accelerated. >> so, john, even though -- we talk about the partisanship of the vote here and there's a lot of implications from that. but one thing that is quite ironic is many people who voted against it, a lot of constituents are going to benefit from it. and now, well, republican senator roger wicker went on twitter to praise the bill

tweeting independent restaurant operators have won. $21 billion of targeted relief, they can survive the pandemic and keep their employees on the payroll. well, i mean, so i'm glad he's celebrating winning even though he voted against it. the white house is taking this in stride saying, great, we'll work with you on other stuff. >> yeah. >> but this is pretty incredible irony. obviously he's not a stupid person. he knows that that was going to be called out. he doesn't care. think it benefits him? >> in fairness, wicker was a strong supporter of the restaurant act folded into the bill. you don't get to take credit for it if you voted against it. but i think, first of all, we've seen this kind of hypocrisy before. what the biden team should be doing is saying exactly what you just laid out. work with us on something else. don't victory lap it, but the fact is republicans have a problem here. this bill is massively popular. it is likely to have an economic impact that leads to increased popularity. they don't own it.

they're in a box because of their fear of the base because they can't vote for things they would normally support. can they reach out of that incentive structure contradiction to work with biden on infrastructure reform, immigration reform? is that possible under the political context? >> i discussed with romney what they are facing, the influx of migrants on the border, unaccompanied minors. you heard ron klain a moment ago say the difference between this administration and trump's even though there are more unaccompanied minors now, he said they're not separating families. but obviously, dana, the numbers are the numbers. are the number of people crossing the border, we are seeing an influx. what does the white house need to do to prevent this from really spiraling out of control? >> you know, it is such a difficult question to answer, which is why they don't have an answer yet. just add to one thing ron klain

didn't say, which is, yes, they are taking in children. they are not separating children from families, but the influx of children now is high in that scenario, but imagine what it would be if we weren't in a pandemic, because the policy is still, aside from children who are unaccompanied, you're not allowed into this country to seek asylum because of the pandemic. it's a public health situation that trump put in place, and the biden administration kept in. so it would be even moreover whelming. it would have to put into question children and families and so on and so forth which is a nonissue because of the policy. so they're going to have to figure it out. they're going to have to build more facilities, make it more humane, or find a way to do what they were talking about at the white house, which is deal with it on the front end before these

illegal immigrants get across the border. but as we've seen during the obama administration, the trump administration is a whole different story, but this is a historically very difficult thing, which is why everybody talks about immigration reform. but because it's so politicized, it is so difficult, impossible to do. >> thank you both very much. and out front next, a bipartisan presidential effort to get americans vaccinated. >> important for our fellow citizens to get vaccinated. >> we urge you to get vaccinated when it's available to you. >> but why is trump not in that message? and we're standing by for president biden's primetime address. going to begin here in just a few moments and we are learning more about what he will say to the nation tonight. obably like . hands feel dry? like sandpaper. introducing new dove handwash, with 5 x moisturizer blend. removes germs in seconds, moisturizes for hours. soft, smooth. new dove handwash. soft, smooth.

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breaking news. as we await president biden's first primetime address in just moments, cnn learning the president will direct states to open up vaccines to all adults by may 1st. the announcement comes as all of the living former presidents except donald trump are joining forces, urging americans to get vaccinated. >> in order to get rid of this pandemic, it's important for our fellow citizens to get vaccinated. >> i'm getting vaccinated because it's possible. >> we urge you to get vaccinated. >> cnn learning that trump was not asked to be involved because the campaign centered around this video that the former presidents filmed on inauguration day.

biden's inauguration, which of course trump refused to attend. instead trump saying in a statement, quote, if i wasn't president, you wouldn't be getting that beautiful shot. for five years at best and probably wouldn't be getting it at all. i hope everyone remembers. that would not be the accurate time line for a vaccine to be developed. but let me bring in our doctors here. dr. jonathan reiner is with me who advised the white house medical unit under president george w. bush who you just saw there. and dr. hashish jha. i want to speak about president biden addressing the nation. putting aside age, underlying conditions, all of it. and normalcy by july 4th. i mean, not for knownormalcy to clear. you can gather with a small group of friends. this is something you called for, vaccines being available to everyone. how big a game changer is this? >> this is huge.

it's really exciting, erin. and i think this is where america needs to be. the good news has been that in the last couple of months we've seen a huge ramping up of supply. i want to make sure all the states are ready for distribution, for dr. reiner to talk about the need for multiple melz of doses going in every day. that's what we will need to do. if we do our part, we are going to have a pretty normal, not 100% as you said, but pretty close to a normal july 4th and that is very, very exciting. >> it certainly is. so, dr. reiner, on this ad we learned trump was not asked to be involved in the ad with the other four living presidents because he wasn't there when the core part of it was filmed, right, because he refused to attend the inauguration. they did say they thought it was unlikely he would be willing to participate. it was a missed opportunity, though, to not try to get him involved given some of the vaccine has come from some of

his base. >> yeah, sure. it seems like the former president never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. a recent monmouth poll found that about a third of registered republicans have no plans to get vaccinated. much higher than other democratic party or independents. a third. what an opportunity for the former president, first of all, to take a victory lap. pat himself on the back about the vaccine and promote it. but how can he be in an ad like this when he hasn't even publicly acknowledged that he was vaccinated? remember, we learned that he was secretly vaccinated in the white house. why do it secretly? so it's an enormous missed opportunity. we really have to reach out to the folks across these party divides and really answer the questions and get them to accept the vaccine. this is not a partisan issue. >> no. dr. jah, what dr. reiner is

referring to, president trump and his wife were vaccinated at the white house. they didn't want any pictures, didn't want anything. what a huge difference. i spoke to dr. fauci recently after we found this out. hey, did you know president trump was vaccinated while he was president in the white house? and what should he have done about sharing this moment with the public? here's the exchange with dr. fauci. were you aware at the time that he got the vaccine, dr. fauci? >> no, erin, i was not. i was not aware he was vaccinated. it was just unfortunately a lost opportunity because he could have gotten a lot of people who are hesitant about getting vaccinated vaccinated. i'm sorry he didn't do that. >> dr. jah, to this day, the former president, president trump has not publicly said he's been vaccinated. what is the impact of that silence? >> yeah, it's puzzling, first of all, right? because the biggest impact it would have is on his supporters. it would keep them alive. it would keep them safe.

of course, it would be big effects on our whole country. we would be much closer to reaching herd immunity. it really is a missed opportunity. the most puzzling part to me it is his own loyal supporters who would benefit from him being public and the fact that he just chose not to do something that would be useful for them. >> i want to ask you each, we talked so much over the past year, dr. reiner, you and i have spoken every single day over the past year. your first appearance on out front last march, you were talking about how people were confusing coronavirus symptoms with heart attack, you were seeing that cross over. what is one of the most surprising things -- let's put it this way. what's the most burning question you still have about the virus? >> well, my big question is why was the u.s. response so awful? that's really my most burning question. the virus didn't come uniquely to the united states.

the virus went all over the world. but yet our response was uniquely awful. so, you know, i'm left thinking about that with the sort of mixture of anger, you know, sadness, but also gratitude for my colleagues around the country who have done just hero's work and have run into basically burning buildings every day to try and put this fire out. >> yeah. >> one day we'll find out why our response was so awful, and it will be hard to swallow. >> dr. jah, what is your biggest question? >> my biggest question is, you know, we know that 525,000 of our fellow americans have died, but we also know that tens of millions have been infected and didn't die thankfully and recovered. but i want to know what the long-term effects are for a lot of those individuals. i worry that we are really just seeing the tip of the iceberg when we think about covid,

there's going to be a lot of disability, a lot of suffering that's going to be with us a long time. i hope that's not true. but that's what i worry about and i'd like to understand that better. >> thank you both very much. next, prince william and harry, well, they did used to be so close. they had, after all, only each other after that great loss. where does that bond stand tonight? and we are standing by for president biden's first primetime address to the nation beginning in just a few moments coming on the heels of his major legislative victory. how does he avoid a mission accomplished moment? eria. that means i gotta clean my mop too? ugh. so i got a swiffer wetjet to get a cleaner, clean! i stick on a fresh pad. boom! it's ready to go. the spray breaks down dirt. and the pad absorbs it deep inside. unlike my mop that can spread it around. and wetjet's even safe on wood! all this? buh-bye. it's so simple!

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tonight the duke of cambridge, prince william breaking his silence saying the family is not racist. just how strained the relationship is between himself and prince harry. max foster is out front. >> have you spoken to your brother since the interview? >> i haven't, but i will do. >> can you let me know is the royal family a racist family, sir? >> reporter: i look forward to breaking protocol unsolicited questions to a brother still not ready to talk. just days after a scathing no-holds-barred interview in which harry made allegations

that will live with the british monarchy for years if not decades. prince william still the heir. prince harry no longer his stand in. an ocean apart, but the distance between the two even greater. >> the relationship is space at the moment. >> reporter: that space confirmed, it seemed, on thursday by the future king of the united kingdom. a far cry from this. >> when it comes to harry, i'm much better -- >> >> reporter: when it comes to the gentle ribbing, it shows how inseparable the bond may be. >> pretty rich coming from the ginger. >> reporter: these two young men who have grown up being watched biles millions living through the tragedy of losing their mother as young boys and emerging on the other side together side by side candidly exposing their pain. >> we have grown closer because

of this. that's the thing. you are uniquely bonded because of what we've been through. >> reporter: making mental health a joint center piece as their royal platform. at the time both men aware of the duty on william's shoulders as future king. their grandmother the queen committed to a slimmed down future monarchy, only adding to the burden they were meant be to share. >> there are a lot of times both myself and my brother wish we were, you know, completely normal. but we've been born into this position and we'll do what we need to do. >> reporter: that's after a period of failing royal engagements, weddings and births, rumors of turmoil within, becoming reality as harry and meghan took steps last year to stand back and ultimately to stand apart. prince william reportedly saddened by the couple's decision. according to the sunday times, saying to a friend, i put my arm around my brother all our lives. and i can't do that any more.

we're separate entities. harry solidifying that separation in a sit-down tell-all with his wife to oprah winfrey. >> me and my brother have been through hell together. we have a shared experience. but we are on different paths. >> reporter: it's incredibly sad when you look at the story from the perspective of the two brothers. ultimately it is a family break down. the queen has said she wants it all resolved in private, but it's difficult to see how that's possible when they're carrying on with their public roles. they're not just public figures. they're part of the monarchy. at least william is and charles and the queen. frankly, they have a stake in it. they have a right to know what's going on. >> yeah, it is quite tragic. thank you very much, max. and next we are just moments away from president biden's first primetime address. one that he has been personally editing line by line.

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the white house. as i said, in just about ten minutes' time. he's expected to reflect on the past year and lay out the next steps in the pandemic including his order to every state making vaccines available to adults by may 1st. out front now, michael smerconish, host of cnn's "smerconish," and dana bash, our chief anchor, political correspondent is back with me as well. you know, we're also learning tonight -- well, let me start with this, michael, first. what does it say that biden is elevating so many issues on such an important night? he's also going to be talking about the recent violence against asian americans which has come on the heels obviously of the president even just another day calling it -- the former president the china virus. and president biden is going to put it in a 20-minute speech tonight. that issue of violence against asian-americans. >> so it's a little unusual. we'll have to wait and see what he actually says. but it seems like we're about to get the sales pitch, after he's

already closed the deal. which for me raises the question of who's the intended audience tonight and what's the real purpose? my hunch is he wants to do two things. one, erin, to keep his foot on the gas and make sure people get vaccinated. and secondly, to build some momentum because obviously he was able to get this done with the benefit of reconciliation, something he won't have the advantage of doing next time. i'm sure he'd like the wind at his sails so he can continue on with his further legislative agenda. >> so dana, to the point michael's making let me just ask you about one specific thing he just said. and that is 20-minute speech talking really at the beginning of a blitz that he's going to be going across the country to sell the covid relief bill. the covid relief bill is very popular and has already passed. this is not the time for selling the covid relief bill. so what is the goal here, dana? >> well, it's a couple of things. one is as michael said, it's selling the notion of get your vaccine and of at the same time

until we really feel we're out of the woods according to the science don't take your foot off the gas when it comes to all the mitigation efforts that people are supposed to still be taking. but also here's the reality. the reality is as michael said this covid bill passed through reconciliation, meaning it didn't -- it was filibusterproof and only democrats voted for it. and so we are already seeing republicans try to chip away at the public support of this. so what you're going to see and hear from president biden, from everybody else on his team who's going to fan out across the country, is this is what we did for you, this is what you can get. you can get a tax child credit. you can have more unemployment benefits. you can have more help with the

aca benefits that you wanted on and on and on. it's a war against the virus. it's education. but it's also a messaging war against republicans who are trying to take away the credit that biden is trying to get for this. >> michael, what does it say to you? the president has obviously put a lot of time into this. it's going to be a 20-minute speech. so not exceedingly long. but 20 minutes is about people's attention span. but he has literally been line editing every single line. and there's a lot that's going in this. there's a lot of things he's trying to accomplish in 20 minutes. >> i think it's also a victory lap of sorts, and he's entitled to it. and i think that maybe the headline tomorrow is going to be the idea that everybody is able to get a shot by may 1st. i can tell you as a resident of those infamous philly burbs we feel shortchange and we take a look at alaska saying if you're 16 and older come and get it.

we look at other states, georgia, texas, now saying everybody can come if they're of a certain age or that pocket in arizona, gila county, where every adult is able to get it. and the patchwork of rollout i think is irking some people who've not yet had that access. >> yeah, that's a really good point. it is an exceedingly good point. so dana, in this poll, and i mentioned it to ron klain earlier in the show, 77% of americans think the worst of the pandemic is behind us. 42% think the economy is stabilized. 25% think it's already begun to recover. they're accurate because it has. the question is how much does it do so. but it has. right? the unemployment rate has been cut in half. the savings rate has surged. net worth of americans was up nearly 6%. how much does the president make of this moment? because really when you add on top of that checks he could be about to ride at least for a while a pretty stunning economic surge. >> right. and the question is whether it

is an economic sugar high or whether or not it is the shot in the arm financially, economically that this country needs. i mean, obviously the biden administration argues that it is -- it's the latter and that this is absolutely what is needed and they've had economists even those as you well know, erin, some of whom work for president trump who agree with them on that. but again, back to the messaging. you're already hearing mitch mcconnell say that if things get better it was because it was already happening, not because of this bill. >> michael, dana, thank you both very much. and president biden's speech is about to begin in just a few minutes. we're going to bring that to you live as our coverage continues now with "ac 360." and good evening. in just a few moments president biden will give his first primetime address to the nation. he's expected to call on states to make covid vaccinations available to all adults by the 1st of may. his remarks come at the end of a momentous and hopeful day precisely one year almost to the

minute from the day our world changed completely. a year ago tonight the nba's oklahoma thunder were about to take on the utah jazz when the game was called off. a player had just tested positive for covid. moments later tom hanks and his wife rita wilson announced they were ill with the virus. at nearly the same time the former president announced a travel plan from europe promising "the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history." by that point, a year ago, about 1,100 americans had tested positive for covid and 33 had died. earlier that day the world health organization had declared the outbreak a pandemic. testifying before congress that same day, dr. anthony fauci was asked is the worst yet to come? yes, he replied, it is. and it was. nearly 30 million more cases, more than half a million lost lives in this country, and millions of lost jobs. now with new federal relief checks on the way, three vaccines on the market, but deaths still averaging about 1,400 a day, president biden is to address the nation tonight. and as we wait, let's just check

in quickly with cnn's senior white house correspondent phil mattingly. sounds like president biden is about to make some big announcements here, philip. >> reporter: yeah, no question about it. these are remarks that are set to try to match the moment the country is in. obviously cognizant that americans are more optimistic that the end of the pandemic is coming than at any point in the course of the last year but also trying thread the needle with the reality there are still 1,500 americans or more dying per day. and how you're going to see the president address this is really kind of walk through what's coming next with two crucial deadlines. as you noted, by may 1st the president is going to direct that every single state must allow every eligible adult to be vaccinated. that is obviously a key timeline that the administration is laying down. and then july 4th is the second. administration officials previewing the speech, making clear that the president will note that based on what the administration has put in place between the surge in vaccine development, between the infrastructure that's been put in place to deploy the vaccine, between the effort to expand the number of vaccinateors, the number of military service members to work through this process, all of that will allow

the country to get back to something close to normal by july 4th if americans keep doing what they're supposed to do. that will be the key tonight. the federal government trying to do its job. americans need to do the same, anderson. >> phil mattingly, we'll check in with you after the president speaks, which we expect to be about two minutes past the hour. that's about five minutes from now. there's new polling just out going into it cnn chief national correspondent john king is at the magic wall. john, what does it show? >> anderson, it's actually quite remarkable. it those the opportunity the president has tonight but also shows the challenge in this very polarized already very political environment. even though it's day 51 of the biden presidency. here's the big headline as the president addresses the country tonight about the pandemic that started one year ago americans are in such a more optimistic mood. 77% of americans think the worst is behind us. that's the opportunity for the president. lead us out of the covid pandemic. only 19% think the worst is yet to come. and this is attributable to the biden presidency. look, this number, 77%, think the worst is behind us. up more than 25 points since january. during the first 50 days of the biden presidency vaccine

rollout, americans feel more optimistic. we know, anderson, 61% support the relief package he will talk about tonight. some of the provisions get as high as 80% or more support, like tax credits for families. yet the policy gets support. when you add biden's name to the polling you see the polarization that is american politics. you see that there is no honeymoon. even on just day 51. do you have a lot of confidence in biden's ability to lead us out of the pandemic? 82% of democrats say yes but only 35% of independents and only 6% of republicans. the policies on sharp ground, anderson. but the president, he's in strong standing with democrats. he has a huge sales challenge tonight with skeptical independents and just opponents in the republican party. >> john king, thanks very much. we'll see you again shortly. very quickly before we hear from the president let's bring in our political and medical team, cnn political commentator, former special adviser to president obama van jones. cnn chief political analyst gloria borger. cnn's chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. and cnn contributor evan osnos,

ath auth r of "joe biden: the life, the run and what matters now." sanjay, is this may 1st deadline that biden has set on vaccines-s that realistic? >> i think from a numbers standpoint it is. i mean, just getting the number of vaccines out there, 10% of the country has been vaccinated so far. you're talking a couple hundred more million doses here. i think there's two issues, though. one is that you've got to have the infrastructure still to be able to vaccinate people and you've got to make sure these vaccines are getting to the right places. that has been a struggle. regardless of whether you open up the criteria or not you've still got to be able to make sure the vaccines get to those places. but something else. if people -- 77% of the country think that this is sort of in the rearview mirror or the worst is behind us. they may be right. i hope they're right. but does that tha also mean -- they say i'm going to blow off the vaccine. >> we've seen big rises in europe in some countries there. evan osnos, what are you expecting from the president tonight? >> i think this is a chance for him to call for action both individually and then collectively. individually it's calling out